Industrial use of exhaust-gases of internal-combustion engines



L.-E.T1SS!ER. INDUSTRIAL USE 0F EXHAUST GASES OF lNTERNAL COMBUSTIONENGINES. APPLICATION FILED l\N.19,19!8.

1,864,656. Patented Jan. 4, 1921-; I231! 2 SHEETS-S HEET 1.

L. .E. TISSIER. INDUSTR I AL USE OF 'EX HAUST GASES OF INTERNAL.COMBIUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION,.F|LED'JAN.19.19I8- 1,364,656.Patented Jan. 4, 1921,-

4 2 SIHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS ETIENNE TISSIER, 0F BATNA, ALGERIA.

INDUSTRIAL USE OF EXHAUST-GASES 0F INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed January 19, 1918. Serial No.

tions (illuminating gas, kerosene, 'gasolene,

. bonic acid).

heavy oils, etc.) for the calcination of metallic carbonates (calamins,iron ores, manganese ores, etc.) as well as gypsum, and even forroasting metallic sulfids, for car- .bonizing wood, dissociationof peat,and in general for treating all mineral or vegetable matter whichundergoes an industrial modification by the agency of heat.

In order to produce this result it sutlices to bring the engine exhaustgas under a furnace containing the products to be treated. The exhaustgas circulates from bottom to top in the heating column which is formedin this way, and after a few hours the heat accumulated is sufficient toproduce the desired caloination, carbonization or dissociation.

The hot carbonic acid gas of theexhaust acts to dissociate the materialunder treatment, and after a time it drives off the volatile substanceswhile the non-volatile substances cannot become ignited precisely onaccount of the presence of inert gas (carprocess there is employed amuffler box built; of fire-brick and having double or triple the size ofthe usual muflierbox, and the fur nace is constructed uporithis box.

7 In the accompanying drawings there are represented in diagram andvertical section,

1n Figures 1 and 2 two'constructional forms of a furnace whichallows ofcarrying out the process according to the invention. in differentapplications of the same which may occur in practice. It is observedthat in the furnace shown in Fig. 1, the exhaust E enters the device atthe bottom and at the central part. so that the exhaust takes place frombottom to top. The muflier box R is of cylindrical shape and is at leastten centimeters less in diameter than the .urnace part which follows, inorder to Specification of Letters Patent.

, product to be exposed opened and I Should the According to the Inorder to carry out this "of lime); it will Patented Jan. 4, 1921.212,833.

afford a ledge for the removable perforated metal plate G upon which isplaced the to heat. The holes in this plate have a diameter which variesaccording to that of the product. It can be grasped at the top andremoved from the furnace by means of the ring A. The furnace proper isof cylindrical shape, and 18 built of ordinary firebrick. The walls 13are about-0.46 meter thick, with two parts separated by a space of 2 or3 centimeters filled with wood ash in order to avoidloss of heat. Thenew process which is the object of this invention is especiallyapplicable to fine products from 1 millimeter to 40 millimeters, andunder these conditions the width of the furnace-should. be about 1 meter(diameter) and about ll50 meters high. The dimensions willvary accordingto the size of the ore, etc., to be calcined or roasted. At the level ofthe perforated plate and situated on a diameter are two furnace openingsT made up of cast or wrought iron pipe built into the brickwork andhaving about 0.20 meter diameter. These are-tightly closed on theoutside by a heavy metal platelined with asbestos- P. The furnace ischarged up to the top( During the action of the exhaust, the chargingand the removal of products canbecarried on in a continuous manner.After a few hours run, thelower portions of "product are calcined. Atthis time the doors are the calcined part is removed. material not fallout by its own action, a rake can be used for the removal. size of theengine which furnishes the exhaust, it ,:will require 3 to .46 hours tocalcine to a height of 040 to 0.60 meter of ore, that is, this portionisto be taken .out every 3 or 4 hours. Dissociation obtained in nearlyall'cases by the [simple .heat of the exhaust, but in case this heatshould prove insuflicient (roasting of sulfids,-calcination of limestonefor-production suffice to admix a small amount of wood charcoal (0.25 to1%) in order to obtain a complete result. In order to obtain a betteruse of the heat of engine exhaust gas, as well as a more economicalhandling of the products under treatment, the furnace can be constructedwith the section shown in Fig. 2. The muffler box R is in cast iron orheavy plate. It is about 0.70

diameter. has 0.63 plate Gr the automatic evacuation of the products assoon as the outlets O are opened, these being formed of iron pipe of0.15 to 0.20 meter diameter. A tight closing is obtained by a heavy castiron plate with a screw clamp device. The lower part of the furnace (tob 0 (Z) to a height of about 0.80 meter is constructed of plate ironfrom 6 to 8 millimeters thick, and the outlets are riveted to thisplate. Between the brickwork B and the metal part is left a space of 3or 1 centimeters which is filled with wood ash and serves to allow freeexpansion.

In order to obtain a better distribution of heat inside the furnace,there is employed a central pipe K oflO to 12 centimeters diameter openat both ends and which is filled up with material at the same time asthe furnace This pipe rests freely upon the roasting plate Grand can beheld in place by the material to be treated. It acts to prevent to acertain extent the material in the furnace from forming a compact massin the central part of the furnace shaft whereby the gas is distributedmore uniformly throughout the material, the gas having an opportunity tocreep along the wall of the pipe. Said pipe may however be omitted.

The furnace can be constructed entirely in plate iron of 6 to 8millimeters thickness. In this case a single thickness or course ofbrick will sufiice, but an empty space is always left and filledup withwood ash. When the engines employed are over H; P; size, it is advisableto separate the exhaust in two portions and'to constructtwo furnacesinstead of one, using a furnace on each exhaust. In this way, the totaleffi'ciency of the system is higher.

The new process also allows of calcining bauxites, kieselguhrs, and inshort'all ores which are-to undergo a dissociation treatment of anykind. When the product under treatment is very friable, as for instancekieselguhr, and has a tendency to run through the holesin the plate, thefollowing arrangement can be made. Instead of disposing the muflier boxunder the furnace, it

is placed within the latter, and the gas exhaust orifice is disposed toopen from the top down, and at about 050 meter above the roasting plate-This latter is now replaced by a solid plane surface which hermeticallycloses the lower part of the furnace. Under these conditions the treatedproducts entirely surround the muffler box. The furnace is here built inlarger size, especially at the lower part.

Roasting of metallic sulfids is of especial interest in the case ofsulfids of zinc (blendes). The size of the pieces to be roasted shouldbe about 3 millimeters. The operation lasts for about 24: hours. Thepulsations due to the action of the exhaust gas discharged from theengine into the furnace produce an automatic stirring effect which aidsin the roasting process. The transformation of sulfid to oxid of zinc iscarried out directly and the material does not pass by the intermediatestate of sulfate of zinc, whereas at the present time it has beenimpossible to avoid the production of sulfate of zinc, and this requireda considerable amount of heat in order to effect its final reduction tooxid. By the new process, the roasting is carried on onl in the presenceof carbonic acid gas iexhaust gas) which acts as an oxidizing agentaccording to the following reaction.

In the usual roasting process, sulfuric acid is produced. by reason of asuper-oxidation due to the presence of an excess of free oxygen. But inthe present case nothing of the kind happens, and this constitutes anentirely new method- It allows of roasting blendes at low temperaturesin the presence of carbonic acid alone. The dimensions and shape of thefurnace'will vary according to the use for which it is employed.

Another application of the useof the heat of exhaust gas of low-carbongas'engines, consists in carbonizing wood, with recuperation of tar. For this purpose therecan be employed a furnace'of analogous design toFig. 1'. The wood is packed into thisifurnace. The heat' of the exhaustis sufficient to carbonize the wood in a fewhours, and it cannot takefire for the reason'that it is surrounded by carbonic acid gas (exhaustgas). In this way the wood is perfectly carbonized. The yield incharcoalis about 80 per cent. A furnace of'this kindcan be constructed withsquare, rectangular or round section, from 1.20'to*2.80 meters, and aheight varying from-3 to 10 meters. The outlets placed at the'lower partof the-furnace, one or two in number, havethe following size, 0.40meterby 0.70 meter about; they should close hermetically. The top mouthof the furnace is closed by a removable cone-shaped piece in plate iron,and from this passes the piping which brings the gaseous products into acondenser for recuperation of the tar products. To empty the furnace thecharcoal produced is allowed to cool, for if removed in a highly heatedstate it would take fire on contact'with the so that the exhaust canescape into the air or be sent into a second furnace.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A process for treating mineral or vegetable substances by the heat ofexhaust gases of internal combustion engines and which consists incausing said gases to circulate through said substances in directcontact with the latter, substantially as described and for the purposeset forth.

2. A process for treating mineral and vegetable substances by heat,which consists in packing these substances in a shaft furnace, addin tothem products designed to facilitate t e combustion, and passinginternal combustion engine exhaust gases through LOUIS ETIENNE TISSIER.

Witnesses Vrcron Pnmon, LOUIS BERNARD.

